1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display device, and more particularly, to a surface discharge plasma display panel (PDP) having a partial opposed discharge effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
PDPs are electronic display devices in which a gas such as Ne+Ar or Ne+Xe is injected in a sealed space formed by front and rear glass substrates and barrier ribs disposed therebetween, a discharge is generated by applying a voltage to an anode and a cathode so that an ultraviolet ray is generated to excite a phosphor film, and a visible ray is emitted and is used as a display light.
Among flat panel displays such as LCDs (liquid crystal displays), FED (field emission displays), and ELDs (electro-luminescence displays), the PDP is advantageous in increasing the size of a screen.
The PDP can have a large screen because the PDP adopts a method in which electrodes and phosphor substances are appropriately provided and coated on two glass substrates, each having a thickness of 3 mm, the glass substrates are maintained with an interval of about 0.1–0.2 mm, forming a space, and plasma is formed in the space.
The PDP exhibits not only a strong non-linearity, a memory function owing to wall charges, and a theoretically long life of more than 100,000 hours, but also high brightness and high light emission efficiency. Also, the PDP has a wide view angle corresponding to CRTs (cathode ray tubes) and is capable of easily representing full color. Since the PDP uses a widely used soda-lime glass as the substrate and cheap materials for the electrode, a dielectric film, and the barrier rib, when a mass production technology is established, mass production at a low cost is possible.
In addition, the PDP has heat-resistant and cold-resistant features because the plasma generated in each pixel of the PDP is hardly affected when the temperature of the barrier rib or electrode is between −100° C. through 100° C. The PDP can be made light, has a superior aseismatic feature because it does not use a filament unlike CRTs or VFDs (vacuum fluorescent displays), and has no possibility of internal explosion unlike the CRTs. Further, the PDP is capable of representing a high resolution image according to the density of plasma.
In the meantime, since pulses having a voltage of 150–200 V and a frequency of 70–80 kHz is used to drive the PDP, the PDP requires a high voltage resistant drive IC.
Since the high voltage resistant drive IC is expensive, the high voltage resistant drive IC takes a great portion in the total price of a PDP panel. Thus, it is needed to lower both the drive voltage and the cost for the drive IC through improvement of a driving method.
FIG. 1 is a perspective vie illustrating a conventional AC type PDP having the above features. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional PDP includes a front glass substrate 10 and a rear glass substrate 12 parallel to the front glass substrate 10. First and second transparent sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b are arranged, parallel to each other, on a surface of the front glass substrate 10 facing the rear glass substrate 12. The first and second sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b are separated by a gap d as shown in FIG. 2. First and second bus electrodes 16a and 16b are provided on the first and second sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b to be parallel to the first and second sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b. The first and second bus electrodes 16a and 16b prevent a voltage drop due to resistance during discharge. The first and second sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b and the first and second bus electrodes 16a and 16b are covered with a first dielectric layer 18. The first dielectric layer 18 is covered with a protection film 20. The protection film 20 protects the first dielectric layer 18, which has a reduced durability due to the discharge, so that the PDP can be stably operated for a long time. Also, the protection film 20 lowers a discharge voltage during the discharge by emitting a large amount of secondary electrons. A magnesium oxide (MgO) film is widely used as the protection film 20.
A plurality of address electrodes 22 used for writing data are formed on the rear glass substrate 12. The address electrodes 22 are all arranged parallel to one another, but perpendicularly to the first and second sustaining electrodes 14a and 14b. The address electrodes 22 are provided by three per pixel. In one pixel, the three address electrodes 22 respectively correspond to a red phosphor, a green phosphor, and a blue phosphor. A second dielectric layer 24 covering the address electrodes 22 is formed on and above the rear glass substrate 12. A plurality of barrier ribs 26 are provided on the second dielectric layer 24. The barrier ribs 26 are separated by a predetermined distance and parallel to the address electrodes 22. The barrier ribs 26 are positioned on the second dielectric layer 24 between the address electrodes 22. That is, the address electrodes 22 and the barrier ribs 26 are alternately arranged. The barrier ribs 26 closely contact the protection film 20 of the front glass substrate 10 when the barrier ribs 26 are attached to the front and rear glass substrates 10 and 12. First, second, and third phosphor substances 28a, 28b, and 28c are coated between the respective barrier ribs 26. By being excited by an ultraviolet ray, the first phosphor substance 28a emits a red R ray, the second phosphor substance 28b emits a green G ray, and the third phosphor substance 28c emits a blue B ray.
After the front and rear glass substrates 10 and 12 are combined forming a seal, unnecessary gases are exhausted between the two glass substrates 10 and 12 and then a gas for generating plasma is injected. A single gas, such as neon (Ne), may be used as the plasma generating gas. However, a mixed gas, such as Ne+Xe, is widely used as the plasma generating gas.
According to the conventional PDP, a large screen and a wide view angle are possible. However, since the brightness and efficiency of the PDP are lower than those of the CRT, a higher consumption power is needed to improve the disadvantages. Since the increase in the consumption power means high voltage driving, a drive IC having a superior high voltage resistance feature is required. Consequently, the price of PDP is raised together with an increase in the power consumption.